If Seth Jones hasn’t been the most popular player on the Blackhawks’ roster the past few years, Lukas Reichel‘s fan club has been vocal and consistent — even if his play hasn’t followed suit.
Reichel has bounced up and down (and in and out of) the Blackhawks’ lineup this season. He has never found a groove with any line since getting on a bit of a heater with Pat Maroon and Craig Smith earlier this year. Last night in Nashville, Reichel skated at center between Colton Dach and Nick Foligno to start the night. He finished with zero shots on goal and one hit in 11:17 on the ice.
That’s been the problem the entire time with Reichel. Former head coach Luke Richardson begged him to shoot the puck. General manager Kyle Davidson told him to be selfish. Interim head coach Anders Sorensen has encouraged him to look to score more often. And even with two-plus years of everyone in the organization screaming at him to shoot the puck like a fan in the 300 level after a couple adult beverages, Reichel only put 10 shots on goal in 13 games in December — and three of those were in the Winter Classic. He’s been credited with one shot on goal in four games now in January.
And yet… here we are with a report before the game on Thursday night from Frank Seravalli on CHSN that Reichel’s name has popped up on the trade radar recently.
Is Lukas Reichel a name that could be on the move? @frank_seravalli joins #Blackhawks Countdown Live to discuss Chicago's position ahead of the March 7th NHL trade deadline. pic.twitter.com/74jvC2Ysqn— Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) January 17, 2025
Here’s the quote:
“[Reichel’s] name started to percolate a little bit in league trade circles over the last couple weeks. Remember the healthy scratches just to start 2025; three times in the last five games I believe Reichel sat out as a healthy scratch. And look, he’s been someone that’s been given a ton of opportunity. He’s played in some prime positions in the lineup at times. He’s had his ice time adjusted both up and down depending on how he’s impacting games, and he’s someone that obviously has the wheels and talent to make an impact but we haven’t seen that on a consistent enough basis.
“Yet, I think that leaves some teams wondering if there’s something else that might be there. Nothing imminent on that front, but I do believe the Hawks started to receive some calls on Reichel’s availability.”
Reichel, who will turn 23 in May, was the 17th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Blackhawks. He has scored three goals with nine assists in 38 appearances this season.